Harneys advises NaaS Technology on US$600 million merger
Harneys acted as Cayman Islands counsel to NaaS Technology Inc., one of the biggest and fastest-growing Chinese electric vehicle service providers, in the merger between its predecessor RISE Education Cayman Ltd (RISE) and Dada Auto Inc. (NaaS). This is the first successful overseas listing of a leading Chinese electric vehicle charging company, resulting in a combined valuation of over US$600 million.
Following (i) the completion of the mergers that result in NaaS becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of RISE pursuant to a definitive merger agreement between RISE and NaaS and (ii) RISE’s name change to NaaS Technology Inc. in June 2022, RISE continues to be listed on NASDAQ. NaaS Technology has a vision of powering the world with carbon neutral energy and has 290,000 charging stations in 288 Chinese cities, with over 200,000 that are fast charging, which accounts for 51 per cent of China’s fast charging piles.
The Harneys team was led by Hong Kong Senior Legal Manager Nicholas Fong with support from Partner Raymond Ng.
Raymond commented: “NaaS is our longstanding client and we are pleased to have supported NaaS on this landmark transaction that helps to drive carbon neutrality and ESG projects forward in China.”
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as US legal counsel to NaaS, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as US legal counsel to the audit committee of the board of directors of RISE. China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities Limited acted as the financial advisor to NaaS.
The Corporate team at Harneys has a leading Equity Capital Markets (ECM) practice with substantial experience in all aspects of capital raising by offshore companies, including IPOs and secondary offerings, rights issues, equity linked securities, including convertible and exchangeable bonds, SPACs and business combinations, as well as private placements, take-privates, takeovers and spin-offs. The firm’s ECM expertise lies in advising entities listed or listing on all major stock exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, the London Stock Exchange, AIM, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
